Federal
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May 09, 2025
Tax Exemption Case May Bring Sweeping Impact, Attys Say
A U.S. Supreme Court case considering a religious exemption to unemployment taxes sought by a charity could have implications across a broad swath of organizations, tax practitioners said Friday.
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May 09, 2025
Souter's Clerks Remember Him As Humble, Kind And Caring
Former clerks of retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter are heartbroken over the death of a man many of them remember more for his conscientiousness, humility, kindness and disdain for the spotlight than for his undeniable brilliance as a jurist.
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May 09, 2025
Hiker And 'Raconteur': Atty Recalls 50-Year Bond With Souter
Behind a towering legal legacy was a man who loved to hike mountains, could recall details of things he read decades ago and was always there for those he cared about, a New Hampshire attorney said as he reflected on a lifelong friendship with U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
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May 09, 2025
A Look At David Souter's Most Significant Opinions
The retired Justice David Souter defied simple definition, viewed as a staunch conservative until he co-wrote an opinion upholding abortion rights in 1992. He did not hew to partisan lines, but reshaped the civil litigation landscape and took an unexpected stand in an extraordinarily close presidential election.
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May 09, 2025
McKernan Out As Trump's CFPB Pick, In For Treasury Role
President Donald Trump will pull Jonathan McKernan's nomination to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and tap him instead for a top domestic finance job at the U.S. Treasury Department, a White House official confirmed to Law360 on Friday.
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May 09, 2025
IRS To Loosen Tax-Free Spinoff Regs, Cut Ordinary Biz Rule
The Internal Revenue Service plans to loosen proposed regulations for corporate separation transactions, known as spinoffs, that the agency approves as tax-free ahead of time, in part by eliminating a standard considering whether actions are taken in the ordinary course of business, officials said Friday.
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May 09, 2025
Family Denies Knowledge Of $81M Tax Avoidance Scheme
The government's claims that members of a deceased theater businessman's family knew or should have known their company stock sale was part of an $81 million purported tax avoidance scheme are baseless, the family members said in a filing in New York federal court.
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May 09, 2025
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included the reference price for enhanced oil recovery tax credits for calendar year 2024.
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May 09, 2025
Justice Souter Was An Unexpected Force Of Moderation
Justice David Souter, who saw the high court as a moderating force apart from the messiness of politics, subverted the expectations of liberals and conservatives alike during his 19 years on the bench.
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May 09, 2025
Taxation With Representation: Paul Weiss, Weil, V&E, Torys
In this week's Taxation With Representation, 3G Capital takes Skechers private, Sunoco LP buys Parkland Corp., and BCE Inc. and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board launch a wholesale network provider called Network FiberCo.
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May 09, 2025
Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter Dies At 85
Retired Justice David H. Souter, who served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1990 to 2009, has died at 85, the court announced Friday.
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May 08, 2025
Trump Admin Defends Gov't Restructuring As Lawful
The Trump administration defended what it says is a lawful executive order looking to reorganize agencies and terminate workers, telling a California federal judge that unions, nonprofits and local governments "waited far too long" to seek a temporary restraining order.
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May 08, 2025
Hyatt's $300M From Reward Program Is Income, 7th Circ. Told
Hyatt Hotels should have to report nearly $300 million in revenue from a rewards program fund because it benefited from spending the money, including through advertising for its properties, the U.S. government told the Seventh Circuit on Thursday, defending a U.S. Tax Court ruling.
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May 08, 2025
NFTC Warns US Against Tariffs On Semiconductors, Pharma
The Trump administration should work to avoid using tariffs to address the perceived threat to national security caused by importing semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, the National Foreign Trade Council said, calling for extreme caution.
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May 08, 2025
Widow Says Husband's Estate Liable For $2M FBAR Fines
A nonagenarian widow told an Idaho federal court Thursday that her husband's estate — not she — should be liable for more than $2 million in penalties for his unreported foreign accounts, calling the government's attempt to penalize her an unprecedented overreach.
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May 08, 2025
11th Circ. Judge Frowns On New Arguments In Easement Case
An Eleventh Circuit judge disapproved of a Georgia partnership raising new arguments on appeal as it pursues a tax deduction for a conservation easement donation, saying Thursday that perhaps "we wouldn't be here" if the partnership had argued the points before the lower court.
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May 08, 2025
Milbank Hires King & Spalding Tax Planning Atty In DC
Milbank LLP has added a former King & Spalding LLP tax attorney as a partner in its global project, energy and infrastructure finance group in Washington, D.C.
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May 07, 2025
Bessent Defends Cuts To Community Fund Amid Scrutiny
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday defended the Trump administration's proposal to significantly slash the fund that operates the new markets tax credit, which is meant to boost investment in poor communities, telling lawmakers that a new $100 million program would better support affordable financing in rural areas.
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May 07, 2025
Favorable Tax Cut Baseline Won't Fool Lenders, House Told
If Congress uses a current policy baseline to permanently extend the 2017 tax overhaul's provisions, it will be a red flag to institutional investors, such as hedge funds, mutual funds and endowments, panelists told the House Budget Committee on Wednesday.
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May 07, 2025
Tax Court Rejects Couple's Case For Lacking Evidence
A couple who challenged what the Internal Revenue Service said was their more than $650,000 in tax debt provided no evidence that the number was wrong, the U.S. Tax Court said in a bench opinion released Wednesday.
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May 07, 2025
11th Circ. Backs Frivolous Argument Ruling Against Teacher
A Georgia high school teacher who claimed that he didn't have to pay taxes on his salary and that income taxes are unconstitutional must pay $25,000 in court sanctions under an Eleventh Circuit ruling affirming a U.S. Tax Court decision.
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May 07, 2025
Don't Scrap US-China Tax Treaty, Biz Groups Tell Treasury
Business lobbying groups have urged the U.S. Treasury Department to reject the White House's plans to scrutinize the U.S.-China tax treaty, warning that scrapping the accord would lead to higher Chinese taxes on U.S. companies.
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May 07, 2025
Feds Seek 13 Years In Avenatti's California Resentencing
California federal prosecutors asked a judge Wednesday to sentence Michael Avenatti to 160 months in prison for tax fraud and stealing from clients, to be served atop the five-year term imposed in a pair of New York cases where Avenatti was convicted of trying to extort Nike Inc. and defrauding former client Stormy Daniels.
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May 07, 2025
6th Circ. Skeptical Of US In Tax Court Deadline Case
Sixth Circuit judges expressed skepticism of the U.S. government's claim that the 90-day deadline to petition the U.S. Tax Court is inflexible, with one judge saying during oral arguments Wednesday in a woman's case challenging the rule that the U.S. Supreme Court seemed to back her.
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May 07, 2025
Device Seller Asks For Probation In $2.4M Tax Evasion Case
The septuagenarian owner of a Florida medical device company who pled guilty to evading $2.4 million in taxes asked a federal district court Wednesday for his sentence to entail home probation and not prison, given his health challenges and payments he already made to the Internal Revenue Service.
Expert Analysis
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A New Tax On Employers Could Help Curb Illegal Immigration
To better enforce the law against hiring immigrants unauthorized to work in the U.S., Congress should enact a punitive excise tax on compensation paid to such immigrants and amend the False Claims Act to allow qui tam actions against employers for failure to pay such tax, says Ajay Gupta at Moore Tax Law Group.
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Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team
In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.
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Justices May Find Gov't Can Keep Fraudulent Transfer Benefit
Based on the justices' questions at the recently argued U.S. v. Miller, the Supreme Court appears prepared to hold that the U.S. — unlike any other creditor — is permitted to retain the benefits of a fraudulent transfer to the detriment of other bankruptcy creditors, says Kevin Morse at Clark Hill.
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Tax Court Should Update Framework For Defining Insurance
The U.S. Tax Court's unnecessary determination in Royalty Management Insurance v. Commissioner that a fraudulent transaction did not contain the hallmarks of a legitimate insurance transaction applies an outdated analysis that threatens the captive insurance sector and illustrates the need for a more modern framework to define true insurance, says Matthew Queen at the Queen Firm.
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When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US
As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.
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Impact Of Corporate Transparency Act Ambiguity On Banks
Even though banks generally needn't file beneficial ownership information reports, financial institutions must continue to monitor the status of the Corporate Transparency Act and understand its requirements in case the nationwide injunction that was issued against the CTA earlier this month is overturned, say attorneys at Armstrong Teasdale.
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6 Changes I Would Make If I Ran A Law School
Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner identifies several key issues plaguing law schools and discusses potential solutions, such as opting out of the rankings game and mandating courses in basic writing skills.
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Firms Still Have The Edge In Lateral Hiring, But Buyer Beware
Partner mobility data suggests that the third quarter of this year continued to be a buyer’s market, with the average candidate demanding less compensation for a larger book of business — but moving into the fourth quarter, firms should slow down their hiring process to minimize risks, say officers at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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Congress Should Expand Investment Options For 403(b)s
Lawmakers should pass pending legislation to give 403(b) plan participants access to collective investment trusts, leveling the playing field for public sector retirement investors by giving them an investment option their private sector counterparts have had for decades, says Jason Levy at Great Gray Trust Company.
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Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out
In contrast to some cases that appear complex due to voluminous evidence or esoteric subject matter, a different kind of complexity involves tangled legal and factual questions, each with a range of possible outcomes, which require a “sliding scale” approach instead of syllogistic reasoning, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Note 3 Simple Types Of Legal Complexity
Cases can appear complex for several reasons — due to the number of issues, the volume of factual and evidentiary sources, and the sophistication of those sources — but the same basic technique can help lawyers tame their arguments into a simple and persuasive message, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Gardening Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Beyond its practical and therapeutic benefits, gardening has bolstered important attributes that also apply to my litigation practice, including persistence, patience, grit and authenticity, says Christopher Viceconte at Gibbons.
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Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review
For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.